GEORGIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS WRAP-UP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TBILISI 000968 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM GG SUBJECT: GEORGIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS WRAP-UP REF: TBILISI 881 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On June 5, the Central Election Commission (CEC) released the final vote count from Georgia's May 21 parliamentary elections. The ruling United National Movement (UNM) won 119 seats in the 150-seat Parliament with 59.18 percent of the vote. A joint U.S.-UK election monitoring mission deployed 38 teams throughout the country. A look back at the elections shows substantial improvement over the January presidential election. The pre-election campaign, election day, and the complaints and appeals processes were all better. Importantly, this election showed continued improvement in the transparency of the election administration begun in January (and strongly supported by USAID assistance) with faster and more efficient posting of the election protocols on the CEC website. As all observers noted, despite the progress, significant problems were seen and challenges remain. Consequently, the new Parliament, which first convened June 7, will need to continue to focus on election reform, including: reaching agreement with the opposition on the manner in which MPs are elected; continuing to improve the voters' list; and continuing education efforts, especially in the regions, on what it means to vote freely in a democracy -- no intimidation, no strong-arming to get out the vote, no forcing businesses to donate, and transparency of donations and expenditures by political parties. End Summary. CEC Finalizes Results -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On June 5, the CEC summarized and released the final vote tally for the May 21 parliamentary elections. The CEC said 1,850,407 voters cast ballots, out of 3,465,736 total registered voters. Reportedly, 56,099 ballots were annulled. The ruling UNM received 59.18 percent of the nation-wide party list vote, and 71 of the 75 single-mandate majoritarian seats, for a total of 119 seats out of 150. The opposition Republican Party did not meet the five percent threshold for party list seats but won two majoritarian races. This gives the opposition parties 31 combined seats. The results for the top five parties were reported as: -- United National Movement, 59.18 percent (1,050,237 votes), 48 party list seats, 71 majoritarian -- Joint Opposition, 17.73, percent (314,668 votes),15 party list seats, 2 majoritarian -- Christian-Democratic Movement, 8.66 percent (153,634 votes) 6 party list seats -- Labor Party, 7.44 percent (132,092 votes),6 party list seats -- Republican Party, 3.78 percent (67,037 votes),no party list seats, 2 majoritarian Pre-Election Campaign, Election Day, and Complaints/Appeals Processes Improved -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The Pre-Election campaign, Election Day, and the complaints and appeals processes all showed improvement versus the January 5 presidential election. Before the election, after some concern over a diesel voucher program, the government stopped incentive programs which give citizens vouchers to exchange for goods. Several strong statements were issued against interference in the election process by government officials, including by President Saakashvili and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Inter-Agency Task Force on Elections (IATF),after a shaky start, also actively engaged non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the international community in addressing problems facing the electoral process. This public display of political will took place in quieter ways, too. The CEC added opposition representatives to the District Election Commissions. It also used USAID-funded training to improve the professionalism and consistency of approximately 52,000 election commission workers. ODIHR and our own observers noted improved professionalism by election officials. 120 judges were trained in electoral law and proceedings. As a result, the Council of Europe (COE) noted that for the first time, the courts overturned a DEC decision. Multiple international organizations (including ODIHR, the COE, and the National Democratic Institute) noted that, overall, the conduct of election day was improved over January. The IATF issued a report noting that ODIHR's EOM observed fewer election day irregularities among the election commissions nation-wide than in January. ¶4. (SBU) The complaints and appeals process, much criticized in the days after January 5, also showed substantial TBILISI 00000968 002 OF 003 improvement. Within a day following the elections, the CEC had annulled 14 precincts' results. In total, 41 precincts were annulled, 29 by the CEC and 12 of by the courts. Both before and after the elections, complaints and appeals were much less likely to be summarily dismissed by either the election commissions or the courts. While not all cases included a review of evidence (and this has been noted by ODIHR and other international observers in their reports), many more cases were substantially reviewed and appeals satisfied during this election cycle. The IATF issued another report (emailed to EUR/CARC) showing these increased numbers of court and commission reviews -- and appeals upheld -- during the complaints and appeals process versus those from the January election. Embassy Election Observation Mission -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Embassy Tbilisi combined forces with our UK counterparts and fielded a pro-active EOM. 28 U.S. teams and 10 UK teams visited nearly 200 hundred precincts (PECs) in 23 electoral districts across the country. We focused our teams in historically problematic areas (especially in the ethnic minority areas of Kvemo Kartli and Samstkhe-Javakheti, which had high turnout rates during the January elections). Then we introduced static coverage by half of the teams, allowing us to observe the same PEC from before opening through the entire closing process. Of the 14 precincts annulled within a day after the election, 5 came as the result of formal or informal complaints by our teams. It is no surprise that we saw problems, as we were actively looking for them. However, our teams saw many more Precinct Election Commission members doing their jobs professionally and consistently, regardless of where they were located in the country. Examples of this included turning away people who were trying to vote more than once or without their voter ID, and removing unauthorized individuals from the polling stations. Transparency Again Improves -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The transparency begun for the first time during the January election (with USAID assistance),continued during this election. The protocols from each precinct were again posted directly on the CEC website, for all to see -- and observers can ensure they match those received from the precinct on election day. This process was done considerably faster this time, with most protocols being posted within 2 days of the election (versus more than a week in January). USAID-funded implementing partner IFES and the CEC itself purchased additional, wireless faxes to expand this capability. Similarly, IFES provided IT expertise to ensure more robust capability in receiving and posting the faxes. Of the 37 precincts where U.S. and UK observers monitored closing procedures, only one of our protocols differed from that posted on the CEC website, and the website contained the reason for the correction. (Note: this correction did not impact the vote for the UNM. End note.) This is notable improvement over the differences we observed in January, and the lengthy delays we observed in the differences being explained by the government. ¶7. (SBU) In addition, the CEC sessions conducted throughout the electoral period were mostly open and transparent (with the possible exception of the registration of the UNM party list, reported earlier). The CEC and IATF expressed considerably more political will in ensuring transparency, responding aggressively to problems, and explaining their actions than they had in January. Embassy Tbilisi has consistently encouraged the GOG to move toward transparency throughout the electoral process, and we will continue to do so. Generational Challenges Remain -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Most of the problems we observed appear to be generational challenges. Many involved apparent local and regional authorities and party activists directing election commission members and others to get out the vote using inappropriate means. There was intimidation of commission members, observers, and NGOs. While many of the problems we saw appeared to be directed at supporting the UNM, this was not by any means exclusive (we filed at least one complaint where an opposition activist was disrupting the voting process and our observers witnessed and urged PEC officials to correct many other instances of opposition members acting inappropriately). Currently, the opposition claims ongoing attacks against its activists and the Prosecutor General is investigating at least four of these cases. TBILISI 00000968 003 OF 003 ¶9. (SBU) However, Georgia has a long tradition (even predating Soviet times) of using force, numbers, and volume to obtain political power. Notably, the problems we observed during this election did not appear to be driven by the central government. Most indicators show that the central government committed to improve this election process, and make it even more transparent. Consequently, the trend from December through May is positive and needs to be encouraged. However, the new Parliament, which met for the first time on June 7, must address these ingrained ways of ensuring unanimous victories for the ruling party. They must reach out to the opposition and forge agreement on multiple issues. This includes changing the manner in which MPs will be elected in the future (i.e. diminish the discrepancies among the majoritarian districts). The voters' list retains serious deficiencies, and these must be corrected transparently. Voter education efforts must continue, especially in the regions. The Georgian people and their Parliament must know what it means to vote freely in a democracy. Ultimately, democracy in Georgia will have no room for intimidation, strong-arm get out the vote tactics, or for forcing businesses to donate to political campaigns. Rather, transparency by political parties, in all actions, donations and expenditures should be key. TEFFT